ISLAMABAD: Traders in the federal capital on Thursday moved Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the proposed PTI sit-in.

A petition was filed by the president of All Traders Welfare Association Islamabad in the court.

The petition stated that after the regime change PTI voiced a narrative that their removal was part of an international conspiracy and threatened to overthrow the government by marching into Islamabad.

It said the Supreme Court earlier this year sought assurance from PTI that they will confine the protest to a specified place. However, the party violated its undertaking and marched towards D-Chowk and set trees ablaze and damaged public properties. The rally was finally called off.

The petition stated that protests by political parties was to be seen through past experience starting from 2014 when a political party started a sit-in for almost five months. During this period, vital government buildings, including Parliament House and Pakistan Television, were attacked.

The petition expressed apprehensions that the PTI would repeat the same if it was allowed to hold a sit-in in Islamabad.

According to the petition, during the ongoing protests, students have been unable to attend schools and colleges. People are unable to attend their offices and the worst is happening with daily wagers as they have been deprived of their right to earn livelihoods.

Patients and ambulances remained stranded on roads as access was not allowed to them by the protesters.

It requested the court to restrain the political party from entering Islamabad’s commercial areas. Permission for public demonstration should be made conditional with the proper undertaking by PTI of confining itself within the designated place outside the periphery of Islamabad city, it added.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2022